No. 2 ranked Tigers push streak to 32

Wednesday

Jan 9, 2013 at 10:43 AMJan 9, 2013 at 10:46 AM

Ryan Ronan

KIRKSVILLE, Mo. – Kirksville wrestling put their 31 straight conference dual winning streak on the line when they hosted Fulton on Tuesday night. The Hornets kept it close early but couldn’t hang with Kirksville’s big boys and fell 45-24.

The Tigers now push their streak to 32 straight matches and are also the number No. 2 team in Class 2, behind only Oak Grove.

Fulton came into the match ranked fifth in Class 2.

Branden Beeler got things rolling for the Tigers as he rolled up Jarred Keiser with a pin in the first round, Beeler came in ranked No. 9 in the 126-pound weight class.

Ranked No. 5 at 138 pounds is Mitch Kriegshauser and he pinned number No. 9 Trenton Clines. Tre Stewart was looking to improve his eighth-place ranking as he pinned Noah Braun at 152 pounds.

Things really went south for Fulton starting at 170-pounds as they lost the last five matches, including two by pin.

Kylan Easley started the run for Kirksville as he won 12-5. Makenna Cook, ranked No. 1 at 182 pounds, won again by pin. Kade Proctor followed Cook’s pin with one of his own. Logan Summers, ranked No. 5 at 220 pounds, won his match 3-0, and Austin Dovin won 8-5 at 285 pounds.

“We pinned them and they tetched us and that’s a big difference, you start looking at those points and with our big guys still anchoring us I think that’s where we got them,” said Kirksville head coach Kevin Powell.

With Fulton keeping things tight the Tigers needed to get all the early points they could get.“I just came out and I knew my team needed the six points, so I did my best to get them,” said Beeler.

The Hornets are the highest ranked opponent Kirksville has faced in a dual this season.“We knew it was going to be kind of tough, but with they way the coaches have prepared us, we just knew we were going to win,” said Cook.

Cook also kept his personal streak of winning every match by pin alive with his victory over Kobe Kaminski.

“He was pretty much everywhere, and I was looking for my moves but that made it hard to get them. So when he went down in the second period, I was like, that’s my strong point and I just pinned him,” said Cook.

Kirksville did drop some matches including some to highly ranked Hornets, including No. 1 ranked and defending state champ at 132-pounds Cody Pae who beat Evan Aljundi 17-1. Third ranked Josh McClure defeated freshman Riley Stewart 17-2 at 106-pounds. Will Krause fell to Jason Pae 16-0, Trey Hudson defeated freshman Ryan Merenda 16-10. Fulton’s only pin came in a hard fought match between Dorian Sneddon and Taylor Gillooly at 160 pounds.Kirksville is experiencing a lot of success again this season, but Powell believes they can be even better going forward.

“We have quite a few guys who have seen a window of opportunity and things may not have gone their way, but I think with some specialized training we can get that turned around later in the season,” said Powell.

The next chance for the Tigers to seize that opportunity will be Saturday at the Big Red Tournament in Centerville, Iowa.